Charlotte restaurant chain Queen City Q said Tuesday it will no longer sell beers associated with Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The boycott means no more Goose Island, Budweiser, Shock Top or any of the other beverage giant’s beers to wash down the Queen City Q’s Southern-style barbecue at its current Charlotte locations or at future locations, the restaurant said in a statement.

Queen City Q cited a Wall Street Journal story from earlier this month that suggested AB InBev is rewarding distributors who focus on its beers while limiting supply from craft brewers. AB InBev estimates that participating distributors would receive an average annual benefit of $200,000 each, according to the story.

The restaurant’s managing partner, Bryan Meredith, said AB InBev is “intentionally and willfully” harming the craft beer industry, which Queen City Q has long supported, and his restaurants won’t do business with companies who act “like bullies.”

“In the grand scheme of things, I’m sure Anheuser-Busch could care less about me. I don’t sell enough to even be a blip on their radar. The message I hope they get is if 100 other people like me do this, they’re going to notice it at some point,” Meredith said.

In a statement, Anheuser-Busch said the incentive program is voluntary and doesn’t discourage the sale of competing beers. “Nothing in the program prevents distribution of other brands,” said Bob Tallett, the brewer’s vice president for business and wholesaler development. “This program simply incentivizes our distributors for focus and performance in today’s already highly competitive market.”

Meredith added that Queen City Q already sells a lot of craft beer – about half of the 44 taps at its uptown location serve Charlotte-made beer, for example. Meredith said the company still plans to exceed $1 million in beer sales in 2016.

Queen City Q currently operates restaurants in uptown Charlotte, Matthews and Concord, with another slated to open in Ballantyne in January. The barbecue chain also operates concession stands inside BB&T Ballpark and Time Warner Cable Arena.

Constellation Brands Inc. said Monday it will pay $1 billion for California craft brewer Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits—a record sum for a U.S. craft-beer company.

The deal signals that the craft-beer industry, which has a roughly 10% market share in the U.S., has crossed a threshold and become a big business that large brewers expect to continue to grow in the years to come. It is the fourth and largest craft deal this fall and follows acquisitions of California craft brewers by Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, MillerCoors LLC and Heineken NV, which bought 50% of Lagunitas Brewing Co. in a September deal that valued the brewer at more than

The rise in craft acquisitions has been driven by changing consumer tastes in the U.S., where drinkers are spurning low-price lagers and light beers in favor of flavorful India Pale Ales. The Brewers Association, which represents more than 3,000 craft brewers in the U.S., expects the craft-beer industry to become 20% of the nation’s $100 billion beer market by 2020.

In contrast, Constellation is acquiring Ballast Point as part of a move to deepen its interests in the U.S. beer industry’s growth areas: Mexican imports and craft beer. Constellation, based in Victor, N.Y., started as a wine business in the 1940s. It became the third-largest U.S. brewer in 2013 after acquiring rights to Corona, Modelo Especial and other Mexican beers from AB InBev during the Belgian brewer’s acquisition of Grupo Modelo.

Constellation approached Ballast Point after the craft brewer filed regulatory paperwork for a public offering last month. Chief Executive Rob Sands said Constellation was impressed by the brewery’s growth and the premium pricing of its beers. In Atlanta, Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA sells for $10.99 at grocery stores, about $2 to $3 more than most competitors.

“We see the craft category continuing to grow double digits for the foreseeable future and take a significant share of the beer business over the next 10 years,” said Mr. Sands. He added that Ballast Point, which is distributed in 30 states, can expand its distribution outside California and increase sales by tapping into Constellation’s relationships with large, retail chains such as Kroger Co. , a national grocer.

Ballast Point doubled its production and sales in the first half of the year, selling more than 118,831 barrels and generating $51.7 million in net revenue. It reported a first-half profit of $5.9 million on revenue of $357.66 a barrel, which is well above the craft-beer average of $270 a barrel, said Townsend Ziebold, a managing partner at First Beverage Group who works in craft-beer mergers and acquisitions.

“Ballast Point is a unique animal,” Mr. Ziebold said. “They are immensely profitable.”

San Diego-based Ballast Point, which began in 1996, will continue to operate as an independent business reporting directly to Constellation’s management team. It has more than 500 employees working across four facilities in California.

The deal is set to close by the end of the year and is expected to add five cents to six cents a share to Constellation’s earnings for the fiscal year ending in February 2017. The company plans to use a mix of cash and debt to fund the deal.

There is no legal definition of a craft brewer. The Brewers Association defines the term as a brewery that produces less than six million barrels of beer and is less than 25%-owned or controlled by a larger brewer.

Isinglass, a gelatinous substance obtained from fish bladders, has long been used in the brewing process of Ireland’s most famous drink to remove extra yeast particles from the beer.

But traces of the fishy substance can end up in the final product, which has meant many vegans and vegetarians have avoided pints of the creamy dark stout despite claims that it’s really “good for you.”

But that will change in 2016.

British alcoholic beverage giant Diageo, which owns Guinness, said Tuesday the company will introduce a new filtration system at its St James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin next year that will not require the use of isinglass.

Yes, that’s right. Guinness is going vegan.

“Our brewers and engineering teams at St James’s Gate are continually working to drive improvement as well as assuring the quality and craft of the brewing techniques developed here over the last 256 years,” Diageo told Agence France-Presse.

“Isinglass has been used widely within the brewing industry as a means of filtration for decades,” he explained.

“However, because of its use we could not label Guinness as suitable for vegetarians and have been looking for an alternative solution for some time. We are now pleased to have identified a new process through investment in a state-of-the-art filtration system at St James’s Gate which, once in place, will remove the use of isinglass in the brewing process.”

Beer-drinking vegans and vegetarians are raising a glass to the news.

But people who want to keep animal products out of their pints should be warned: Isinglass isn’t just found in Guinness.

A little-known fact among drinkers is that the fishy ingredient is widely used in the beer and wine industry. It’s a clarifier and makes alcoholic drinks more palatable. Some brewers and vintners are reluctant to mention the secret ingredient on their labels for obvious reasons — so vegans, vegetarians and animal rights groups keep careful notes on which drinks they know are safe.

It’s hardly the first time a stomach-churning animal ingredient has been used to make a popular food or drink. Lots of cheeses are made with animal rennet, derived from the stomachs of cows and other ruminants. McDonald’s used to cook its french fries in beef tallow before it switched to vegetable oil in the 1990s.

It’s not clear yet if Guinness produced outside Ireland will be fish guts-free, too.

But what Guinness drinkers really want to know is: Will their favorite drink still taste the same?

Samuel Adams maker Boston Beer Co. — once a scrappy upstart that grew by luring drinkers away from macrobrewers — is now losing out to smaller rivals.

Boston Beer’s shares fell the most in eight months Friday after the company cut its forecast for profit this year, hurt by increased competition from smaller craft-beer competitors. Earnings this year will be $7 to $7.40 a share, the Boston-based brewer said Thursday in a statement. That’s down from a previous projection of $7.10 to $7.50.

The company also cut its forecast for distributors’ sales of its products to retailers, known in the industry as depletions, for the third time this year. Sales by that measure will rise 3 percent to 6 percent, down from an initial forecast of as much as 15 percent provided a year ago.

Boston Beer’s flagship Samuel Adams brand is losing momentum to craft breweries that are gaining bigger followings and dozens of new operations that are starting every month. About 700 small, independent breweries opened in the U.S. from June 2014 through June 2015, according to the Brewers Association. The trade group has projected that the U.S. this year will surpass the record of 4,131 active breweries, set in 1873.

“It’s hard to be the top player in craft right now,” said Adam Fleck, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. “When you see what used to be a high flyer see its volume growth start to slow, I think that’s where you see the market start to react so negatively.”

Boston Beer’s shares fell as much as $32.94, or 13 percent, to $212 in New York, the biggest intraday decline since Feb. 25. Boston Beer already had retreated 15 percent this year through Thursday. The shares now trade at about 29.8 times earnings, a 42 percent premium to the Standard & Poor’s Midcap 400 Index.

On Monday, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the globe’s largest brewer and maker of Budweiser, agreed to purchase SABMiller, the globe’s second largest brewer, for a tidy $104 billion. This, of course, is the biggest news in the world of suds right now—a truly massive merger that, if approved, “reshuffles the global beer industry and sets the stage for higher beer prices worldwide,” as the Wall Street Journal puts it.

Momentous as it might be, however, the deal probably won’t mean a whole lot to American beer drinkers. That’s because regulators are unlikely to greenlight the merger unless SABMiller gives up the rights to brew its biggest domestic brands, Miller and Miller Lite, in the United States. (As of now, the company produces the beers through MillerCoors, a joint venture with Molson Coors). It would be similar to the agreement AB InBev struck in 2013, when it bought Mexican megabrewer Grupo Modelo and was required to spin off the U.S. brewing operations of beers like Corona and Modelo Especial into a separate company. So while the bigger, badder AB InBev company is expected to control more than a quarter of the planet’s beer sales, Miller and Bud will almost certainly remain stateside rivals—the Yankees and Red Sox of pale macrobrews.

There is, however, another story about competition in the U.S. beer industry that should have Americans paying attention. On Monday, Reuters reported that the Department of Justice was “probing allegations” that AB InBev has been attempting to stifle competition from craft brewers by choking off their access to distributors, thus making it harder to get their products to thirsty beer fans. If true, that would be something to get agitated about.

In the vast majority of U.S. states, beer makers are not allowed to sell directly to bars or grocery stores. Instead, they have to work through middlemen known as wholesalers, or distributors, who exist solely to market alcohol to America’s retailers and watering holes. Known as the “three-tier-distribution system,” the setup is basically an outmoded holdover from the early post-prohibition era that persists largely because wholesalers are major political donors. As archaic as the system may be, the bottom line is that without a distributor, a brewer can’t really get its ales and lagers on shelves or on tap.

As the brewer of all things Bud, AB InBev already has plenty of heft with wholesalers. But in recent years, it has tried to slash its distribution costs by taking advantage of state laws that allow beer makers to purchase wholesalers outright so long as they operate independently. Thanks to a spate of recent acquisitions, Bud currently owns 17 of the 500 companies that move its beer, with operations in cities including Boston, New York, and Los Angeles.

Craft brewers say that AB InBev is abusing its growing power over America’s beer distribution network in two ways. First, they claim that some distributors purchased by AB InBev either stop selling products made by rival brewers outright, or seemingly stop making much of an effort to sell them. Second, they claim that AB InBev has pressured distributors it doesn’t own “to only carry the company’s products and end their ties with the craft industry.” Conveniently, AB InBev has also purchased a number of well-loved craft brewers, such as Elysian and Goose Island, which it could readily offer to wholesalers as substitutes for other small brands.

The Justice Department is reportedly still in the early stages of investigating these allegations. On Monday, though, InBev acknowledged that it was talking to both the Justice Department and California’s Office of the Attorney General about its plans to purchase distributors in San Jose and Oakland, California. The company said it was “working cooperatively to address any questions” about the deals.

If they’re right, though, the craft brewers’ claims about a secret dirty war by AB InBev would, in a way, be a perfect complement to the SABMiller merger. There have been two trends in the American beer world over the past several years: Overall sales have stagnated while craft beer sales have soared, cutting into the biggest brewers’ market share. The merger helps AB InBev solve the first problem by giving it more access to promising developing markets, like Africa. Throttling craft brewers by cutting them off from distributors would help them solve the second problem by, well, throttling craft brewers by cutting them off from distributors. This Bud’s for kneecapping the competition.

In a statement made in response to recent press speculation, SABMiller said that no proposal had yet been received from AB InBev and that it would respond as appropriate once an approach had been made.

SABMiller, which is the world’s number two brewer in terms of sales with brands including Peroni, Grolsch and Pilsner Urquell, saw shares in London rose 23 percent on the news, with AB InBev’s stock up 7.4 percent. News of the deal also bolstered Europe’s brewing sector with Heineken and Carlsberg shares both up 5 percent.

Following SABMiller’s announcement, AB InBev confirmed that it had made an approach to SABMiller’s board regarding a combination of the two companies, adding that it was its intention to work with the U.K. group’s board toward “a recommended transaction”.

A combined ABInBev/SABMiller would have a market value of around $270 billion, based on current prices, Reuters reported.

Shares of SABMiller currently trade at around £36. If AB InBev matched this in its bid, plus SABMiller’s net debt, that suggests a deal value of around $100 billion—one of the top ten acquisitions of all time. Neither company has commented on valuation so far however. Analysts at Bernstein suggested the deal value might have to go higher than £39 per share to ensure SABMiller shareholders’ agreement.

Any deal would also mean a broader geographical reach into fast-growing emerging markets: AB InBev has a strong presence in Latin America, while SABMiller sells across Africa.

However, there are likely to be some regulatory hurdles to be cleared because of overlap between the two companies. SAB’s stake in Miller Coors in the U.S. and its 49 percent stake in CR Snow in China are likely to have to go, according to analysts at Bernstein.

Craft beer and breakfast foods might not seem a natural fit, but there’s a growing line of breakfast-inspired craft beers.

If you thought a beer based on Wheaties was offbeat, you ain’t seen nothing yet. San Francisco brewer 21st Amendment is upping the ante with Toaster Pastry, an India Red Ale that’s an homage to Pop-Tarts.

The beer will be released at the opening party for the brewery’s new facility in San Leandro on Aug. 29 – and the flavor is an homage to that facility’s former focus. Long before 21st Amendment moved in, the former Kellogg Co. factory was used to make Frosted Flakes and Pop-Tarts.

After its introduction at the brewery, the beer, which comes in at 7.6% alcohol by volume, will be available in 19.2 oz. cans – a new (and permanent) size for the brewery’s seasonal offerings. Samples aren’t yet available, so I can’t yet testify to the taste (a shame, given my passion for all things Pop-Tart).

Worthy of note, though, is the beer’s IBU of 74, meaning it’s roughly as bitter as a Stone IPA. I’m eager to see how that bitterness blends with the sweetness you’d expect from something with ties to a toaster pastry.

More cereal beers coming, too

Not a fan of Wheaties and prefer your Pop-Tarts in their traditional form?

How about a Count Chocula beer?

General Mills, which worked with Fulton Beer to launch HefeWheaties, has already got its next breakfast concoction in the works. Colorado’s Black Bottle Brewery will work with the company to bring back its Count Chocula-flavored beer next week.

The beer debuted last year, when Black Bottle employees bought pretty much every available box of the seasonal cereal from the Albertsons grocery store in Fort Collins, Co. to make the inaugural batch. (General Mills will supply the cereal to the brewer this year.)

The Count Chocula beer was hardly an aberration for the brewer. It’s Cerealiously line of beers has previous included Honey Bunches of Oats, Golden Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (the brewer puts the cereal in a bag to prevent pieces from getting into the beer – in a procedure that’s similar to dry hopping.)

“We decided to do a milk stout as the base,” says Sean Nook, founder of Black Bottle. “And I was like ‘I want to put cereal in it and change it up.’ … It’s a fun, silly thing. It’s not one of our better beers … It tastes more like chocolate than it does cereal, but it’s still a beer.”

Craft beer and breakfast foods might not seem a natural fit, but they’ve teamed up in several ways. Vermont’s Potlicker Kitchen, for instance, offers shoppers a variety of jellies with a beer base – ranging from IPAs and Oatmeal Stouts to Hefeweizens and Porters. There’s even one made from Heady Topper there. Bloomberg tried them and said they taste like, well, jelly.

For most craft beer lovers, though, it’s nuanced, layered ‘breakfast beers’ that are in high demand. Founder’s various breakfast stouts are widely sought after – and a breakfast beer was one of the first ideas Sam Calagione had when he was developing his Dogfish Head brewpub.

Unfortunately, I can’t vouch for the quality or taste of any of the recent breakfast cereal beers (though Cerealiously Count Chocula will be poured at next month’s Great American Beer Festival, which I’ll be attending). However, if you’re in the market for a more traditional breakfast beer, here are a few to try.

Founder’s Breakfast Stout – An absolutely terrific stout. Full bodied with medium carbonation and incredibly smooth, it’s a testament to what the style should aim for. With a strong malty backbone and notable coffee and chocolate notes, it’s the creamy oatmeal flavors that really stood out for me. It’s not too heavy. And the layers of flavor you’ll experience as you drink it and as it warms are phenomenal. (ABV: 8.3%)

Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout – Out of Folgers? Don’t have anything real important to do that day? This might be an alternative to consider. Loaded with coffee beans, this is a pitch black beer that has the roasted flavor you expect from a good cup of Joe. And it’s good both cold or at room temperature. Just beware of that ABV. It creeps up on you. (ABV: 9.62%)

Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout – This beer can scare some people away with its dense darkness, but it’s not nearly as heavy as it appears. Medium bodied and quite smooth, you’ll get the roasted malts and some coffee notes initially, followed by the oatmeal, with a bit of sweetness at the finish. It’s a creamy, easy to drink stout. (ABV: 5%)

HefeWheaties is a new beer from Fulton, which collaborated on the brew with another Minneapolis company, General Mills.

It had to happen. For years, the Wheaties slogan – “breakfast of champions” — has been invoked by beer lovers who pop open an adult beverage before noon. Now the cereal company is putting its name and logo on a beer.

That beer is called HefeWheaties, the result of a collaboration between two Minneapolis companies: cereal-maker General Mills and brewer Fulton Beer. As the name implies, the beer is a hefeweizen, the German style that relies on wheat for its base.

HefeWheaties, we were only somewhat disappointed to learn, does not include actual Wheaties. The beer is unfiltered and comes in a 16-ounce “tall boy” can, Fulton says. It will hit the market on Aug. 26 — but only at Twin Cities locations.

“We’ll see how people react to it,” says Fulton’s Ryan Petz, the brewery’s president and co-founder. “If it’s something everybody loves, we’ll obviously consider doing it again in a bigger and more widely distributed way in the future.”

According to the General Mills blog, “The idea for HefeWheaties came up earlier this summer, thanks to some connections between Fulton’s team” and some of the cereal-makers’ employees.

“It’s the first alcohol partnership for Wheaties, General Mills’ original cereal, which was born in the 1920s,” reports the Star Tribune.

But if you’re thinking this might start a series of beer-cereal tie-ins, you should think again. When asked on Facebook if a Count Chocula stout might be in the offing, Fulton responded, “That’s a negative Ghost Rider.”

Today there are more breweries than ever in the U.S., but finding one that’s independent is a lot harder than you’d expect.

Using data from Beer Marketer’s Insights, Market Watch found that a staggering 90 percent of all beers sold in the U.S. in 2014 came from just 11 companies. Though there are more than 3,400 breweries in the U.S., about 1,400 of those beer makers are not producing beer that’s sold in bars or on store shelves.

Craft beer is on the rise, generating over 19 percent of the entire American beer industry’s $101.5 billion in sales. But the fast growing imported beer market also accounts for a significant piece of the beer drinking pie. According to Nielsen data, the amount of Mexican beer sold in grocery stores in the last year is equal to the amount of all craft beer sold from supermarket and convenience store shelves.

And despite the fact that there’s more choice, one beer produced by a big brewer continues to dominate. Last year, 38 million barrels of Bud Light were sold in the U.S.— which equates to one out of every five beers sold.

Take a look at the list of the biggest brewers selling in the U.S. to see how acquisitions through the years continue to reduce independent brewers in the country.